Medical board reinstated convicted felons | Thomas Dosumu Johnson
barred him from practicing on female patients during his 10 years of probation.
Tartaro’s reinstatement outraged one dissenting board member so much that, after he was elected to the state assembly, he authored a law banning felony sex offenders from practicing medicine. Tartaro, however, still has his medical license.
Tartaro and Galluzzi did not respond to requests for an interview. Kaplan also declined an interview, but told a reporter: “I do not see how the public at large could benefit from this (story).”
Linda Whitney, executive director of the medical board, said in a written statement that its reinstatement process provides the “most objective and independent method” of determining which doctors are rehabilitated.
“On balance and in the fullness of hindsight, I believe our board has lived up to its public protection mandate in this process far more than not,” Whitney said.
Rudy Bermudez, the former medical board member who wrote the sex offender law, put it differently.
“I think some of it goes to the doctor-God syndrome,” Bermudez said. “The board means well but hasn’t always done well.”
STANDARDS FOR REINSTATEMENT
When disciplining doctors, state law emphasizes a goal of rehabilitation, but says “protection of the public shall be the highest priority.” When those two are “inconsistent,” the law says “protection shall be paramount.”
“Why should we throw out all that society has invested into a doctor without giving a doctor a second chance?” said Peter Osinoff, a prominent Los Angeles attorney who specializes in representing doctors before the board. “If 99 percent of them can benefit society, it’s very worthwhile to reinstate these physicians.”
Doctors must wait three years after losing their licenses to reapply again, although sometimes settlement agreements allow them to seek reinstatement after two. In contrast, California attorneys who are disbarred must wait five years to reapply.
State law allows either a panel of the board or an administrative law judge to consider the request. The board has opted to have all cases go before a judge, who issues a proposed decision that must be approved by the board. Doctors have the right to appeal.
The law instructs judges to consider the original offense, the doctor’s actions since the discipline, rehabilitative efforts, reputation for truthfulness and professional ability. A doctor may not apply while incarcerated or on probation.
Other large states have similar criteria, although Texas allows doctors to reapply after only one year. In New York, decisions are made based on “remorse, re-education and rehabilitation,” said Seth Rockmuller, an attorney for the state.
During the hearing, the doctors seeking reinstatement testify. They face cross examination by attorneys for the medical board. The doctors have the burden of proof to show they have been rehabilitated and are fit to practice medicine.
Many judges’ refusals to reinstate cite a doctor’s denial about past events and failure to accept responsibility.
For instance, Olufemi Ogunmola of Rancho Palos Verdes had his license revoked in 1986 after he was convicted of two counts of rape. Board documents say Ogunmola raped the women during their pelvic exams. Despite now “living an extraordinary life” he was turned down for reinstatement four times because he was in denial that he’d committed a horrible crime, the judge concluded.
Only a handful of doctors committed crimes so troubling that the board felt they outweighed rehabilitation, the records show.
Ronald M. Howard, who was convicted in 1992 of sexually abusing a 15-year-old patient in San Bernardino County, had admitted to sexually abusing about 75 patients — male and female — dating back to medical school, according to board records.
In 2002 a judge refused to reinstate him, citing a psychologist who said his sexual deviancy for 34 years had become deeply ingrained in the fabric of his personality. “It is difficult to conceive of a riskier environment for petitioner than the practice of medicine,” the judge wrote. “There is simply no practical method for ensuring requisite protection of the public if petitioner’s certificate were restored.”
Felicia Cohn, a medical ethicist at UC Irvine, said while some doctors’ misconduct may be shocking, the board’s case-by-case review and follow-up monitoring seems reasonable.
“I want to believe that rehabilitation is possible and a valid goal,” she said. “If these physicians can demonstrate that they truly are rehabilitated and we can trust them with our health and our lives again, they should have that second chance.”
SEVEREST PUNISHMENT
In the last 10 years, the medical board has taken the licenses of 1,017 doctors, according to state records.
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